QUESTION: Describe a key relationship between two or more characters or individuals in the text. Explain how this relationship helped you to understand at least one of these characters or individuals.
Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan are two people that are different but similar at the same time. Throughout The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, it is revealed what type of people they both are through their relationship. Together they have an overwhelming sense of history, they create mystery and isolation and they create damage for a lower class family. Through the use of these scenes, Fitzgerald helps us to understand things about both Gatsby and Daisy and who they are as people.
Gatsby and Daisy have had a history of being in a relationship together before Nick knew about them. Five years ago, before Daisy was married to Tom, they dated. That was when Gatsby started to fall in love with her. When Jordan Baker was telling Nick about what she saw she said that Gatsby “looked at Daisy… in a way that every young girl wants to be looked at sometime.” Gatsby was so in love with her that he built his whole future on trying to regain what he lost with her. This shows that Gatsby is so persistent to get what he wants that even five years later, he is trying harder than ever. Back when Daisy knew Gatsby five years ago he was not wealthy like he is now, but Daisy was. When Nick reunites them and they go to visit Gatsby house, Daisy cries over Gatsby’s shirts. She says she is crying because “they are such beautiful shirts… It makes [her] sad because [she’s] never seen such-such beautiful shirts before.” This can be seen as not true because she seems to have everything, so she seems to be crying over what she could have had if she stayed with Gatsby and made more of a history with him than what they had. The shirts represent Gatsby rich and full life. Because of Daisys’ history with Gatsby, when she knew him he wasn’t as rich and now that he is, she wants that. This proves that Daisy is not as perfect as she seems and is shallow and only cares about being wealthy and being seen as perfect.
Because of Gatsby and Daisys’ relationship they cause a lot of damage to lower class families without realising it. When their relationship takes a turn for the worse, Daisy is driving them home not really paying attention, she runs over Myrtle Wilson. As a result of Gatsby and Daisys’ relationship, Myrtle dies and George Wilsons life is ruined in his eyes. Because Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship was rough at that point, Daisy was driving carelessly and hardly even acknowledged that she ran over Myrtle. Myrtles death mentally and emotionally devastates George. It seems like he will never be the same again, all because of what Daisy and Gatsby caused and what their relationship caused. It caused Wilson to become “a man ‘deranged by grief'”, and led to him killing Gatsby and then killing himself. After Myrtle, Wilson and Gatsby are all dead, Daisy hardly seems to acknowledge them and the fact that her relationship with Gatsby was mostly to blame for it. When they died, Nick rings Daisy to let her know about Gatsby’s death, she is not available. Nick is told that “they had gone away early that afternoon, and taken baggage with them,” and they didn’t leave an address or a phone number it is almost like Daisy and Tom are trying to escape what they caused. Nick describes them both as “careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness… and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” Daisy never confessed to being the one driving the car that killed Myrtle, therefore, pushing all of the blame onto Gatsby, which then leads to Wilson killing him and then himself. Through this part of Gatsby and Daisys’ relationship, it helps us to understand that Daisy is a careless person and does not care for other things and people and only believes in taking care of herself and keeping her life perfect for everyone else to see.
Money has mysteries behind it, like where it comes from and how people get it. Gatsby becomes extremely wealthy all in order to try and impress Daisy and win her back. In the Great Gatsby, money has two classes. New and Old. New money is recently earned money and old money is inherited money. Gatsby is new money and Daisy is old money. They split and more or less isolated from each other because of this. Gatsby, because he is new money, lives in West Egg and Daisy, because she is old money, lives in East Egg. The social status between these two places is very different. People who live in the East believe that they are much better and more perfect than the people who live in the West because they have grown up rich and always had everything. Also because, as Tom Buchanan says, “a lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers”. No one really knows where Gatsby’s money came from, only that later on, we find out that he got it because he wanted his relationship with Daisy back. Gatsby knew that Daisy seemed perfect because she was rich and that he may not know everything about her because it is revealed that, “Gatsby was overwhelmingly aware of the youth and mystery that wealth imprisons and preserves.” Fitzgerald shows us that because of their relationship, Gatsby and Daisy are not as honest as they seem and they both have secrets to hide.
Throughout The Great Gatsby, Gatsby and Daisy’s relationship helps us to understand what type of people they are on the inside. Neither are really what they seem to be. They have a history together, but history is past, however, because Gatsby still tries so hard to have a relationship with Daisy, it is to be understood that he is persistent to get what he wants and he will do anything to get it, no matter what obstacles are in the way. Because both are so focused on them and their relationship, Gatsby and Daisy do not realise the damage they are causing other people especially those of a lower class. This helps us to know that not only Gatsby, but Daisy too, are both careless of others and don’t think of them, especially those of a lower social status than them. Finally it is revealed that both Daisy and Gatsby are not who they seem to be. Because Gatsby wanted a relationship with Daisy so badly, he used corruption as a way to earn money to win her over and then proceeds to lie about how he got that money, so to everyone else, it is a true mystery as to where it came from.
1 Comment
Add Yours →Hi Lucy,
It is good to see you stepping outside of your comfort zone with this.
Though you are describing moments/elements of the relationship, you must be wary of retelling the plot to highlight your idea. A good move is to centre your idea around the quotes you have selected- make sure you explain HOW the quote supports the idea. Maybe it’s a key word or phrase which develops the characteristic you are discussing.
You also need to ensure you have balanced the paragrpahs. Remember, there are two parts to the question and you need to spend equal time on both. When you describe the aspect of the relationship, make sure you then explain what is revealed about the character.
This is lacking in the wider ideas and author’s purpose. When we think of The Great Gatsby as a text, Fitzgerald’s purpose is to highlight the realities of society. In Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship, I think the key element that Fitzgerald is trying to communicate is around the differences in social classes and the barriers which exist between them. His commentary (via the story) is about the way that intermingling between the social classes doesn’t work or cannot exsist. He also makes sure we understand the human tendency to obsess over the past and the danger that comes when you are trying to recapture something from your past. Gatsby dies after pursuing a single dream for too long and so we come to understand how important it is to know ourselves, our reality and our limitations. Fitzgerald was not an overly optimistic guy but his life was hard and he was the ‘poor boy’ that married rich and so his stories reflect the hardship of that journey.
Hopefully this helps! Sing out if you have any questions.
Mrs P